We voted out, so just walk away Mrs May: RICHARD LITTLEJOHN says the PM may have the zeal of a Brexit convert but she hasn't shown much urgency in triggering Article 50

The 19th century diplomat Talleyrand said of the Bourbons that they had learned nothing and forgotten nothing.

After the restoration of the monarchy following the fall of Napoleon, the French royal household reverted to behaving just as appallingly as they had before the revolution, oblivious to the fact that they were sowing the seeds of their own ultimate extinction.

Talleyrand could have been describing the behaviour of Britain’s modern political class. Their reaction to the biggest popular revolt this country has ever seen has been to carry on regardless, to make Brexit all about them.

The reaction of Britain's political class to the biggest popular revolt this country has ever seen has been to carry on regardless, to make Brexit all about them, writes Richard Littlejohn

Even when Article 50 is finally triggered, setting in train Britain’s departure from the EU, most MPs and peers will still be refusing to heed the lesson of the referendum.

This wasn’t just a vote against continuing to belong to a remote, anti-democratic, sclerotic superstate. It was an overwhelming expression of no confidence in those who were either elected or appointed to serve us.

For far too long they have cynically pursued their own self-serving agendas. Even now there are those who are hell-bent on derailing Brexit, in defiance of the clearly expressed will of the majority of the British people.

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They resort to obstructionism and sophistry to further their ends. I can’t be the only person who reaches for the sick bag whenever a resentful Remainer tries to tell us what people really meant when they voted Leave — as if we’re all too stupid to know what we were doing.

No one voted for a ‘hard’ Brexit, we’re told. Yes they did. The customs union wasn’t on the ballot paper. So what? The British people voted to leave the EU and all its works. Full stop.

Certainly a trade deal which satisfies both sides would be welcome. But if one isn’t on the table, then we should just walk away. Worst case we fall back on World Trade Organisation rules and deal with the EU on exactly the same terms as other major economies such as China and America.

Remainers talk emotively and disingenuously about ‘falling off a cliff’, as if we’re going to be prevented from doing any business in Europe.

London Mayor and Remain campaigner Sadiq Khan said the economy will ‘fall off a cliff’ if Britain is forced to quit the EU single market

They will say and do anything in their shameless efforts to wreck the Brexit process, even posing as doughty defenders of democracy. They’re now trying to insist Parliament must have the final say before we part company with the EU.

It’s a pity they weren’t so resolute in defence of Parliamentary sovereignty over the past four decades, when both the Commons and Lords were rubber-stamping thousands of European directives into British law, without any debate or scrutiny whatsoever.

They claim the result wasn’t valid because ‘only’ 52 per cent voted Leave. Among those expressing this view is Tony Blair, who in 2005 won just 35.2 per cent of the vote at the General Election, but was rewarded with a 66 seat majority.

Two thirds of Britain voted for other parties. Labour also lost the popular vote in England to the Conservatives. But I don’t remember anyone claiming Blair shouldn’t be allowed to form a government. Or demanding that England should leave the United Kingdom, rather than be ruled by a Labour Party propped up by Scottish MPs.

With depressing predictability, Wee Burney has now announced that she is seeking a second independence referendum, because Scotland voted Remain.

She’s grandstanding, of course, but she should be careful what she wishes for. Frankly, much as we value the Union, the English are sick of being lectured by this tiresome woman with her chippy grievances and would cheerfully wave goodbye.

Missing you already, hen.

The same goes for the Siren Sisters, Anna Soubry and Nicky Morgan, who have taken up permanent residence in radio and TV studios, wailing about the catastrophic consequences of Brexit.

If they are so upset about losing EU citizenship, they could always go and live there. And the House of Lords might have bowed to the inevitable, but not before trying to make Brexit as difficult as possible. The whole rotten edifice should be abolished after the next election.

All of this could have been foreseen. Far more worrying is the behaviour of those charged with delivering Brexit. Mother Theresa might pretend to have the zeal of the convert but she hasn’t shown much enthusiasm or urgency in firing the starting gun.

She may be triggering Article 50, but it’s taken her nine long months. It should have been triggered the day after the referendum, just as Call Me Dave promised.

Frankly, much as we value the Union, the English are sick of being lectured by Nicola Sturgeon with her chippy grievances and would cheerfully wave goodbye, writes Richard Littlejohn

What has always bothered me is that apart from the Three Brexiteers — Boris, Davis and Fox — most of the Cabinet was in the Remain camp. How committed is Spreadsheet Phil, for instance?

He certainly hasn’t impressed as Chancellor, bungling his first Budget in spectacular fashion, and doesn’t seem to have made any firm plans for what happens when we leave the EU.

If the Prime Minister couldn’t see that her Chancellor’s tax increases were going to hammer natural Tory voters, then how much faith can we have in her ability to battle for Britain when the going gets tough in Brussels? I certainly wouldn’t trust Hammond to negotiate on our behalf, especially after his dismal performance last week.

Britain’s answer to Disneyland is to open in Kent in five years’ time. The film studio Paramount is investing £3.5 billion in a site near the Bluewater shopping centre.

Rides will be based on movies such as Wallace And Gromit, Shaun The Sheep and Chicken Run.

Perhaps they could also include some of the unique attractions associated with the Garden of England. There could be a giant illegal gipsy camp, complete with shire horses, stolen lawn-mowers and fork lift trucks, and piles of burning tyres.

How about a Brink’s-Mat ride in a security van, complete with masked blaggers armed with sawn-off Purdeys smelting down gold ingots to make souvenirs?

Visitors could stow away in lorries with French number-plates before being decanted at the side of the M25 on the approach to the Dartford Tunnel.

And how better to celebrate a traditional Kent seaside experience than with a roller-coaster ride recreating the famous Jolly Boys Outing from Peckham to Margate, culminating in the bus exploding in the car park of a lovingly recreated Halfway House tavern. Luvvly jubbly!

In the face of Labour’s implosion, the Tories have reverted to unsavoury type, exemplified by Hammond’s self-regarding stand-up comedy turn in the Commons. They’re acting as if they own the place, displaying the kind of arrogance and internal splits which eventually served up 13 years of the Blair/Brown terror.

The Conservatives may be ahead in the opinion polls but they shouldn’t try to kid themselves that anybody actually likes them. Most people don’t.

A different Labour leader could well preside over a revival in the party’s fortunes.

If Tory ‘rebels’ try to prevent a clean break with the EU, they won’t be forgiven. A little more humility, a little less hubris, would be in order.

And unless the entire political class can demonstrate that they’ve at least learned something from the referendum result, they will deserve to go the way of the Bourbons.

The singer Adele is being wheeled into concerts in Australia hidden in a large black trunk, normally used for transporting sound equipment.

Her covert method of entry is used in stadia which don’t have underground tunnels leading to the stage.

I wonder if she got the idea from the 100th episode of Minder, All Things Brighton Beautiful, in which a character called Sidney, played by the late Andrew Sachs, posts himself to Arthur’s lock-up in a crate.

Sid is trying to escape from a skinhead he’s hired to kill him for the insurance, in the mistaken belief that he had a terminal illness.

Arthur smuggles him to Brighton in a caravan, which catches fire and careers down a steep hill, leaving both Arthur and Sid rolling in the deep, so to speak.

I sat in the West Stand at White Hart Lane on Sunday, completely unaware that Millwall fans were racially abusing Spurs’ South Korean hat-trick hero Son Heung-min.

Apparently, they were singing something about him knocking out DVDs ‘three for a fiver’ — which is said to be a well-known slur aimed at Asian footballers.

Who knew? Still, it’s a step up from accusing him of eating labradors.